Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide

The Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide is a campaign led by Hope Through Healing Hands to build a network of advocates to speak out about the struggles that mothers and children in developing nations face daily. When women and girls lack access to the education and resources they need to create a healthy plan for becoming mothers, the result is tragic—303,000 women in developing nations die from preventable complications during childbirth, and 5.9 million children die before their fifth birthday each year.We seek to galvanize faith-based leaders and their constituencies around the issues of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) as well as healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies (HTSP) to improve maternal health and reduce child mortality around the world.

We have chosen to focus on MNCH and HTSP as an axis of global health. If we can keep mothers and children healthy, we can aid in combating extreme poverty, keeping girls and children in schools, promoting gender equality, and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Our goal is educate and activate thought-leaders to discuss, debate, and advocate for these issues, addressing MNCH and HTSP. Members of the coalition have varied positions on particular methods, which include fertility-awareness approaches as well as contraceptives, but all agree that healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies is imperative for saving the lives of women and children and enhancing the flourishing of families worldwide.

Join us to learn more about how you can become involved as an advocate for mothers and children.

Our faith traditions, spiritual values, and commitment to justice lead us to believe that families living in extreme poverty worldwide should not suffer needlessly because they lack access to health services, including the education and tools to allow them to time and space their pregnancies in a healthy way.  

We acknowledge that the challenges around healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies are substantial. Each year, nearly four in 10 pregnancies in developing nations are unintended. Over 300,000 women die annually from pregnancy and birth complications in developing nations; newborns who have lost their mother are ten times more likely to die in infancy than one who has not. Ensuring healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies will help to address these tragedies as well as to aid in ending extreme poverty and hunger, keeping children in schools, promoting gender equality, and preventing mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS. 

We seek to enable women and couples in developing nations to determine the timing and spacing of their pregnancies in a manner that includes the voluntary use of methods for preventing pregnancy—not including abortion—that are harmonious with their values and religious beliefs. We may have varied positions on particular methods (which include fertility-awareness approaches as well as contraceptives), but we do agree that healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies saves lives and allows families to flourish. 

We know that stronger, healthier families and communities result when couples jointly plan the births of their children, and we affirm that women and families should plan the timing and spacing of their pregnancies based on their own faith and needs. 

We commit to leveraging our networks in the United States to support education and tools to enable families in developing countries to plan the healthy timing and spacing of their pregnancies, consistent with their faith. We recognize that influencing government and donor policies and funding is an important part of this goal. We call on others to support our effort, to influence government and donor policies and funding, and to champion this essential aspect of maternal, newborn, and child health.

Maternal and Child Health issues are at the core of global health and saving lives. We know that family planning, including access to contraception, plays a critical role in combating maternal mortality and enhancing newborn and child survival rates, addressing directly Millennium Development Goals #4 and #5. —Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, MD

• "When I founded Mercy Ministries in 1983, I had a deep burden for helping young women, including those facing an unplanned pregnancy. I still do! As Christians, we’ve got to be a lifeline for these girls! These young women need practical, emotional and spiritual help. I encourage you to reach out in faith and support Hope Through Healing Hands. Their work is to promote awareness for maternal and child health in developing nations, including the life-saving “practical” help for girls about healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies. When pregnancies are better planned, lives are saved. —Nancy Alcorn, Founder and President, Mercy Ministries International

• "I believe the greatest humanitarian crisis of our generation is the oppression of women. I believe when a women in a community is healthy, resourced, and unleashed - other injustices of human trafficking, malnutrition, education and healthcare all begin to shrink. We invest in women because we believe they will invest in their communities and the ripple effects will change the world. Don't underestimate a mother's love and the scope of which it could reach. It is an honor to support Hope Through Healing Hands in their efforts."—Jennie Allen, Founder of IF Gathering, Author

• "The vital work of Hope Through Healing Hands, especially as it relates to Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancies (HTSP) for women in developing nations has our attention. We are so grateful for the unlimited, healthy care we received in bringing our children into the world way back when, and then watching a whole crop of wonderful grandkids emerge. Yet, we are also acutely aware that healthy births and families are not the case for over 220 million women worldwide. Women want access to HTSP education and services and it's just not available to them. We are joining our hearts and hands with others to see this change. Infant mortality and premature birth rates can be turned around. At least 80% of birth complications are preventable. Fertility awareness methods and sustainable maternal health care are simply a few good choices away. We are encouraging friends, family, and supporters of our work, to join us in supporting Hope Through Healing Hands and this important HTSP initiative. Raise your voice, tell the story of the need. Donate to help. We are all in this together." —Andi Ashworth, Founder/Editor - Art House America, and Charlie Peacock, Music Producer/Composer (The Civil Wars, AMC Television TURN)

• "Through working with Show Hope, Steven and I have been privileged to travel the world advocating for restoring the hope of a family to orphans in distress around the world. We've had the incredible privilege of being a part of the stories of thousands of children from over 55 countries "coming home" through the blessing of adoption.  And yet, with all the miracles we've witnessed we passionately believe that what is best is for every woman and her child world wide to have a chance at being able to be healthy and together. By offering education, training and resources, Hope Through Healing Hands is doing just that, making a healthy and whole way for success. We are blessed to come along side the faith-based coalition and lend our prayers and support of a healthier future.” —Mary Beth
  Chapman, Co-Founder and President Show Hope and Steven Curtis Chapman, Co-Founder Show Hope and Grammy Award Winning Recording Artist

• "I support Hope Through Healing Hands because it is committed to saving the lives of unborn children and their mothers, and insuring that in so far as possible, every child born into this world is wanted. My faith commitments require this." —Tony Campolo, Ph.D. Eastern University
  

• "As an advocate for the orphan, as well as family preservation, I have seen --firsthand-- the successful impact which is made in the lives of women, children, and communities when women are empowered and equipped with knowledge which restores their dignity and enables them to make educated choices for healthy futures for themselves and their families." —Jen Gash, Sweet Sleep, Inc.
  

• “We believe every child has a right to the opportunity to maximize all of the potential God has placed within them – mentally, physically and spiritually. But this opportunity is truncated if the mother falls ill or dies. The first step toward health for the child is health for the mother, and we can promote robust health for mother and child with education toward healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies. This is why I am supporting the Faith-based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide.” —Mike Glenn, Brentwood Baptist Church

• “Those of us who have experienced healthy pregnancies here in the U.S. need to remember how uniquely fortunate we are. For the most part, we get to choose when and how we give birth, and we have all the health care we need before, during, and after delivery. In other parts of the world, the reality is tragically different. It is estimated that 1 in 39 pregnant women in Africa died in childbirth in 2013.” --Amy Grant, Grammy Award-Winning Recording Artist

• We have been fortunate to travel to Haiti with LiveBeyond where we fell in love with the people we served.  It was a blessing to be able to livebeyond ourselves, our culture, our borders and this life so that others can live without disease, hunger, poverty and despair. The ability of women and couples to plan when and how many children to have gives families the ability to live beyond, and we believe every person deserves that. —Scott and Tracie Hamilton, Olympic Gold Medalist and philanthropist

• "I'm an excited and grateful newlywed and my wife Siebe and I are blessed to have the opportunity and are looking forward to starting a family together. We live in a country where resources and education help us plan for a family. Unfortunately, I’ve seen first hand how global poverty limits those same opportunities to just a fortunate few. I hope for the day when all men and especially women fully know how their choices can affect generations. The Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide and Hope for Healing Hands is endeavoring to reach those who are far beyond our borders. Their work saves lives and develops healthy families." --Brandon Heath, Recording Artist

• “Having promoted global health awareness-raising and education for years, I know that issues like malaria, clean water, HIV/AIDS, and maternal and child health are life and death issues for millions living around the world. As Christians, we are compelled to advocate for our brothers and sisters in need—at home and abroad. I support the Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide coalition because together, we can save lives.” —Larry Hollon, United Methodist Communications

• "If you want to improve the welfare of a country, you must uplift the caliber and character of the healthcare available to mothers and children, the very life force of a nation, and key to its longevity.” —Bishop T.D. Jakes, The Potter's House

• “I volunteered in the area of family planning even before divinity school.  My passion for raising awareness about the healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies continued in pastorates in the inner city and in suburbs.  It is at the core of maternal and child health.  I hope my enthusiastic support emboldens other faith communities to join in this work.”  —The Very Reverend Dr. James A. Kowalski, Dean of The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine

• Throughout my five decades in international health and development living in several African countries and Pakistan, I have seen many times that mothers, families and communities benefit when couples have the information and the means that enable them to plan the spacing of their children and the size of their families. Empowering parents to grow their families at a rate they can afford enables them to devote more of their time and limited resources to feed and educate each child. I am committed to working through our extensive global network of Christians promoting global health and wholeness from a Christian perspective to empower couples with information and means to practice family planning in a manner that respects their cultural and religious values. So I am delighted that Hope Through Healing Hands is launching a "Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide," and look forward to partnering with you. —Ray Martin, Christian Connections for International Health

• Whether in a middle-American suburb or a remote village in Africa, women are the heartbeat of society.  The relationship between mother and child circulates life directly through the major arteries of our communities, effecting wellness, education, economy, and environment. I want to give my voice to ‘Hope Through Healing Hands’ as they support women and children by encouraging healthy spacing and timing of pregnancies.  This effort promotes human flourishing.  Caring for women in this way saves lives and builds a better world." --Sandra  McCracken, Recording Artist, Producer, Writer and Mother

• “The term International Family Planning, which should call up a good emotion on the part of individuals who care about unlimited childbearing worldwide, may produce a sense of evil, being forced on unsuspecting individuals and countries. This is unfortunate and need not be. The issues of abortion and contraception do not need to be joined. Contraception can have a dramatic impact on the health, wellbeing and opportunities for the future for millions. When contraception is offered to husband and wife and not used as a tool to impose feminist ideas on women of cultures where such an idea is considered hostile it can be seen as a friend and not a threat. When it is offered as a last resort to single women only after encouraging them to consider sexual reticence and even not be involved in sex until marriage, it can again be seen as a friend of conservative cultures and not a foe. And again when contraceptives are offered with full information—that women sometimes still become pregnant even when using contraceptives and the contraceptives never make sex totally safe from STDs and HIV, again encouraging sexual reticence, they can be seen in the proper light—a help but not the answer to all social ills.” —Joe McIlhaney, The Medical Institute for Sexual Health

• I've walked the streets of some of the world's worst urban slums. I've visited refugee camps around the world and shared meals in the homes of rural subsistence farmers who live in extreme poverty. One thing I've learned from these experiences: help mothers and infants and you build a better future. That's why I believe so strongly in the work of Help through Healing Hands. --Brian D. McLaren, Author & Speaker

• "Lwala Community Alliance directly cares for thousands of pregnant women and young children in Kenya. Our ultimate goal is to help families lift themselves out of poverty and find wholeness of life.  Having the ability to appropriately time and space children is a pressing desire for the families we serve. Through healthy spacing and timing a woman can better look after her health and parents can better care for children. Providing contraception and counseling to families saves lives, and fulfills a call to reach the least of these, so I endorse the Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide without reservation." —James Nardella, Lwala Community Alliance

• "Girls are often forced into marriage and pregnancy as young as age 12, and pregnancy and delivery are extremely hard on their bodies. Too many die from complications, and those who survive often never recover 100 percent.  Yet many face continued pregnancies year after year, without being able to adequately care for their children. These adolescent girls are at much greater risk of HIV exposure which can affect their newborns, as well. As for the children, when pregnancies are not timed and spaced in a healthy way, many children don’t survive the newborn stage."—Jena Lee Nardella, Blood:Water Mission

• I stand up for gender equality, women’s empowerment, and maternal and child health all around the world. As a mother myself, I know the critical importance and privilege of timing and spacing children. In the developing world, the ability to plan a family can mean not only the survival of the mother, but also opportunities for the mother to improve her life, health and education, thereby improving the life of her entire family. I support the Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide because together, I believe, we can change the world for women. —Jennifer Nettles, Grammy Award-winning Country Music Artist

• “I grew up in Africa, and for many years worked as a nurse-midwife in rural and urban settings. Bringing children into the world and helping mothers stay healthy is my passion. Every women I have had the privilege of serving wants to have a healthy newborn and child and also be strong enough to nurture her child. Just like me! Healthy mothers and children is also the passion of World Vision and why we are proud to join the "Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide.”  World Vision’s Mobilizing for Maternal and Neonatal Health through Birth Spacing and Advocacy (MOMENT) project is just one of the ways we can help mothers and children lead healthy lives through healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies (HTSP). Yes, we have a lot of work to, but one sure way to save lives is to educate women, couples, families and communities about HTSP because it is one of several cost-effective actions that contribute to positive outcomes for moms and their babies; with the ripple effect of opportunities for children to go to school, increases household income and reductions in childhood illnesses and disease.”   —Susan A Otchere, Project Director, Mobilizing for Maternal and Neonatal Health through Birth Spacing and Advocacy (MOMENT) project, World Vision US

• "Over the last couple of years, I’ve spent some time with an organization called Live Beyond, in Thomazeau, Haiti. We are working with a community there that lives in extreme poverty, without clean water, health care or much education. But that has been changing.  I am compelled to lend my support to this coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children because I have seen that when mothers receive prenatal care, family planning, and postnatal care, lives are saved. Simple steps can make a huge difference in the lives of these people." —Kimberly Williams Paisley, Actress and Writer

• "Having lived in and spent time in the developing world, I know that maternal and child health is a critical issue for families. In this increasingly globalized world, those living in developing nations are our neighbors, and as Christians we are called to love them. And we should love them in action and truth, including advocacy." —Dan Scott, Christ Church Nashville

• “Debbie and I have spent a lot of time in the developing countries among the world’s poorest. We know it is of critical importance for children to stay in school and hopefully graduate with secondary and even college degrees. This will lead to stable families and sustainable communities. Family planning is vital so that parents can support the kids they do have with food, shelter, clothing and education.” —Debbie and Michael W. Smith, Grammy Award-winning Recording Artist

• In a lifetime of working with young people at risk, we are well aware of the crisis of unplanned pregnancy; it takes a huge physical, emotional,and financial toll on a family. That is why we endorse the work of the Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide, because their work informing and educating about the healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies addresses this crisis head-on with real solutions that will have a great impact on future generations. —Shepherd and Anita Smith, Childrens AIDS Fund

• "I know the ravages of poor maternal child health in developing countries. Fresh out of residency I went to serve for eleven years at Tenwek Hosptial in rural Kenya. My heart was broken as babies a few weeks old regularly died from neonatal tetanus because they had their umbilical cords cut with a dirt encrusted garden knife. Mothers had a baby ever year but weakened by there too frequent pregnancies, it had a poor chance of survival. Good maternal child health programs radically change this because it did just that for the 300,000 people we served. We organized community leaders, trained volunteers to teach their neighbors better health practices and sent staff rugged on motorcycles to villages to immunize ever child. We motivated mothers to space their children, trained traditional midwives, secured clean water sources, helped them improve their nutrition and much more. The health of the community was transformed and our hospital statistics radically changed. Today, the program is reaching over a million people and tens of thousands of lives have been saved. That is why I and the 30,000 health professionals involved in the Christian Medical & Dental Associations enthusiastically endorse and support the Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide. It will bring health and hope to the world. I’ve seen it happen." --David Stevens, CEO of Christian Medical & Dental Associations

• “We believe children are a gift from the Lord, and every child deserves the opportunity to live a healthy life. If we can equip mothers with the knowledge of how better to time and space her children, she will be more likely to survive pregnancy and birth complications and the child will more likely to survive the newborn stage. God wants us to live life in abundance, and we can take the first steps toward making this a reality for so many around the world.” —Elizabeth Styffe, RN MN PHN, Global Director for HIV&AIDS and Orphan Care Initiatives at Saddleback Church

• "At Mothers of Preschoolers International, we believe in the power and influence of moms and work every day to encourage and equip them, and help them take their next step toward Christ. God has an incredible plan for every mother and child and I am thrilled to partner with Hope Through Healing Hands in elevating the importance of maternal health and support. Better moms make a better world." —Sherry Surratt, CEO and President of MOPS International (Mothers of Preschoolers)

• "I support the Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide, because the evidence is clear. Careful timing and spacing of pregnancies can be life-saving for women and vital to the well-being of their children. Young teenaged women are at 10 times greater risk of death due to pregnancy-related causes than if they wait to have their children in their early twenties, and older women with five or more children are up to three times more likely to die from complications of pregnancy than women with only two to three children. Coalition efforts will save the lives of women in developing nations, decrease maternal mortality around the world and promote child health.” — Cathy R. Taylor, Dean and Professor, Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences and Nursing, Belmont University

• "Living and working in Haiti, providing health care to an impoverished community, I witness the impact of simple prenatal care during pregnancies, safe deliveries, and the life-saving education of how to better plan a family.  The Faith-based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide advocates support for the world’s most vulnerable populations: women and children who often have no voice.  I support this coalition because I know that the healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies saves lives, preserves families, and that is what God calls us to do.” —Dr. David Vanderpool, LiveBeyond

• Sojourners has always been interested in the intersection of faith, politics and culture. When we consider what it would take to save the lives of countless women and children living in poverty all over the globe, we can’t ignore the way that these three areas play a role in keeping those women and children impoverished.  I support the Faith-Based Coalition of Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide because they are about solving the problem through the healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies.  These are thought leaders who are doing and saying what their faith tells them to, with ideas that actually work. —Jim Wallis, Sojourners

• "At LifeNet International, our mission is to innovate and implement pragmatic responses to everyday health challenges facing the poor.  What is more compelling than the challenges of childbirth and parenting in the face of extreme poverty?  We support the work of the Faith-based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide and its commitment to education and advocacy about family planning in the developing world, because we know it is a matter of life and death for women and children. We see it everyday."  —Stefanie Weiland, LifeNet International

• "All around the world I have seen the challenge that couples face when they cannot determine the timing and spacing of their pregnancies.  Stronger, healthier families in contexts of extreme poverty are better able to draw upon their own resources and capacity in ways that can help them work their way out of poverty.  I support the Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide because it seeks to focus policies and funding in ways that contribute to stronger families and communities in the majority world while respecting their values and beliefs.  This effort is changing lives." —Robert J. Weingartner, The Outreach Foundation

• "At The People's Church, we believe following Christ includes serving and giving, which is why we are so involved in global mission work.  It is through this work that we have come to understand the fragility of life in the developing world.  We know from our work with family-based orphan care that saving the lives of women and children is critically important, so we support the Faith-Based Coalition for Healthy Mothers and Children Worldwide as a way to increase awareness about this issue." —Rick White, The People's Church